Getting Ready...

I've been negligent with updating. As of late my view has been limited to the commute to and from work, as well as the windowless closet I call my lab. 

The good news is that the view is about to change - pretty drastically even! There are only four more days until I leave for Australia. These are, I'm convinced, the hardest; those days leading up to a trip are always anxiety filled.  
 

First there is that dreadful anxiety of what to pack so as to not overpack, and assessing the little things that can I buy there instead of taking it all with me. I hate obsessing over what to pack but for three and a half weeks on the road there's a definite pressure. 

My second great anxiety is in regard to what's left behind. My girls - my two darling cats - are being left to a friend to care for and as wonderful as they are I do stress that they'll grow anxious with limited human contact. At best, they would be described as neurotic, and at least a little bit needy.  Lucie is brilliant with them, but there's nothing quite like being at home to cuddle with them at night.  Stressful! 

It's funny because the journey is rarely what stresses me out. I'm not the kind to panic over delays or rough landings/take offs; morbid as it may seem, there's not much I can do to control the plane and it's happenings... I'd rather the voyage be flawless but I don't dwell on the process as long as I eventually touch down in my destination.   

It seems a little absurd to stress over the last few days. Ultimately I'm always ready on time and I rarely forget things of consequence (except for those few times where I have had to improvise pajamas - they're always my last thought and seem of such little consequence until you're sharing a room with other people!). I have on occasion forgotten small toiletries, and once - one harried time - my passport. Ops. Thankfully that was before the days of manditory on-hand 
passports; a very long time ago you could travel with a birth certificate and a driver's license. 

And yet, as the trip approaches, I once again find myself writing lists of things to pack, feverishly underlining the things I'm apt to forget: socks, pajamas, the travel guides, laptop adapter... I compare lists studiously and check to see what I've forgotten from sheet to sheet, and ammending as necessary.  A list is tucked in my purse, in my shoulder bag, as well as sticky-taped to my laptop lest I might lose one or six of the lists, and I virtually memorize it by this point after so many reviews.  

Tonight I'll iron the few things which I already am sure I don't need, empty my camera flash cards to be certain I have 11G of mobile memory (in addition to the 16G mobile flash stick I have should I need even more memory...)  and quite likely I'll go through my stash of teeny tiny toiletries to be certain that I have what I need to keep my case underweight (and with plenty of room for souvenirs)  

So, the anxiety has hit, as it always does, but the good news is that as always I know it will pass, and when I touch down on Saturday morning, I will be entirely ready for whatever adventure might come.  I have one day in Melbourne before Jayne and Squidge arrive, and at that point I will hit the ground running and discover whatever the 11 hours of waiting will provide - I anticipate a little shopping, a little hapless wandering, and more than a few pictures.